RUSSIA/UKRAINE: A Russian missile struck a residential area of a southern Ukrainian city near a nuclear power plant on Saturday, injuring 12 civilians and raising fears of a nuclear accident during Ukraine’s war, Ukrainian officials said.
Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv Oblast, said on the Telegram messaging app that four children were among those injured in the attack, which damaged several private homes and a five-story apartment building in Voznesensk.
The city is about 30 km (19 mi) from the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant (PNPP), the second largest in Ukraine.The Mykolaiv Oblast Prosecutor General’s Office, which updated earlier tolls, said 12 civilians were injured.
State-owned Energoatom, which manages all four of Ukraine’s nuclear power generators, called the Voznesensk attack “another act of Russian nuclear terrorism.”
In the Mykolaiv region on Saturday, warnings of air raids were sounded several times.
“It is possible that this missile was specifically aimed at the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant, which the Russian military tried to recapture in early March,” Energoatom said in a statement.
Russia did not immediately respond to the accusations. However, there were no reports of damage to the Pivdennoukrainsk power plant.
Ukrainian authorities have called on the United Nations and other international organizations to force Russian forces to leave another nuclear power plant that was seized shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
The town of Enerhodar, home to the Zaporizhzhia factory, Europe’s largest plant has been repeatedly shelled, with Moscow and Kyiv swapping blame for the attacks.
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